Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

THE STORY

     Although Rachmaninoff is now best known as a composer, he was also one of the greatest pianists of his day, while Paganini was the greatest violin virtuoso; they were the closest thing to 19th century “rock stars.” 
      Paganini’s violinistic prowess was so far above anyone else that, for a time, after he composed 24 Caprices for solo violin, he was the only person capable of playing them. It was the 24th—the final and most difficult—of those Caprices that caught Rachmaninoff’s attention. 
      Rachmaninoff spun the theme of the 24th Caprice into 24 variations for piano and orchestra, twisting and turning the single melody into a wide variety of musical ideas.
      The variations are played without pause—but even though the work is technically in a single movement, the variations can be grouped to form the outline of a traditional three-movement concerto form (fast, slow, fast).

LISTEN FOR

• In the seventh variation, echoes of the famous Dies Irae (“Day of Wrath”), the Gregorian chant from the requiem mass—recognizable by its seven descending notes

• In the fourteenth variation, the flipping upside-down of the theme (with the upward intervals of the melody now going downward, and vice versa)—it is almost an exact mirror image, except for one note that Rachmaninoff removed

• A major-key take on the upside-down trick in the eighteenth variation, which is famous for its appearance in the 1980 film Somewhere in Time (Rachmaninoff knew this gloriously beautiful variation would be a hit and said, “This one’s for my agent”)

• In the last variation, the most playful of them all, a final moment of cunning and wit in which the piano concludes the work all alone with a flourish 

INSTRUMENTATION

Solo piano, piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, strings.